To get butts in the seats, Subway has decided to bring back their long-time promotional mainstay: the $5 footlong.
For nearly a decade, the deal featured one 12-inch sub each day at a discounted $5 price until, like all great fan-favorite promotions, it met its demise in 2016.
And now it’s back because Subway is strugglin’
According to an internal memo, Subway’s traffic has slowed 25% over the last five years.
In 2016, their sales fell 1.7%, and for the first time in the company’s history, the sandwich haven closed more stores than it opened, dropping 359 locations in the US. That’s a lot of out of work “sandwich artists.”
The $5 deal is an effort to entice customers like the days of old — but, alas, the snake always eats its own tail: more than 400 franchisees have signed a petition against the deal, claiming that $5 footlongs are what “decimated” their business in the first place.
Keeping up with the “price war”
In 2018, many fast food staples have decided to lower their prices to slow the fast food decline.
McDonald’s recently announced they’re bringing back their illustrious Dollar Menu, which was nixed back in 2013 at the behest of McDonald’s franchisees for the same reason: these deals kill sales.
But for these corporations, that’s a risk they’re willing to take. Because at the end of the day… fast food ain’t gonna eat itself.
